Awesome! We'll take it from here.

First, a big congrats to all of my friends who ran Boston yesterday. Some were running to PR. Some were running to finish. All were there to enjoy the experience. I hope you all got what you wanted out of the day. It was exciting to track everyone online and watch the 5k splits tick away.

Now it is our turn. We're going to Nashville for all the same reasons...to PR, to qualify for Boston, to run a strong race, to see what is left in the tank.

So, a music change. I might have hinted at this before, but I don't really care for Country Music. Sure there are songs that are classics that I know the words to and there are a few contemporary songs that I can stand to listen to now and again, but running a marathon with country music bands all along the course might just be the perfect example of modern day torture. Saturday will be a test of my mental toughness, trying not to let the onslaught of country music affect my run...it can only make me run faster, right? to get away from the music?

Instead of a traditional running song to get you going on this Nashville marathon week, I thought some superhero inspiration might get you pumped to run. Superman's Theme - John Williams.

what is left in the tank??

AAAhhhh!!! Tracking has been great. I really hope our fasties have enough left in the tank for a good finish. I've been tracking their 5k splits and the runners who have now passed the 30k mark have lost 15-40 seconds in the last 5k compared to their previous splits. The hills are upon them.

Hang in there everyone! For those of us spectating, deep breaths people! It is the moment of truth. Can't wait to see the 35k and 40k splits!

Marathon Monday

The Boston Marathon gun is going off right about this time today. I personally know at least 30 people who are running there today. I finally admitted yesterday to Chad that I was a little jealous. I was supposed to get to run Boston again this year. Had I run the race I wanted to in St. George in October, I'd be lining up with Tara in wave 1 and getting to enjoy the perfect running conditions today. It obviously was not meant to be. I have even technically qualified to run Boston this year, but the timing was too late to register.

I'm excited to run Nashville this coming Saturday. Will we have the awesome weather that Boston is getting right now? No. Will we get all of the cool running shwag that all of the Boston folks get to bring home? Probably not. Will I get a PR? I better. My PR is 3:37. I've been training for a 3:20. The hip has calmed down for the moment. I will not be running faster than easy pace until Saturday's race so as not to encourage any more hip flare ups.

Am I worried about not making my goal? Sometimes. I've been channeling my friend Tausha since yesterday. She was battling severe foot pain towards the end of her training before CIM. It was doubtful whether or not she would even toe the line. Did she? You bet! Did she run a good race? You bet...she broke 3:10 (though I think her foot was broken when it was all over)! I keep reminding myself that I've put the work in. I've run the miles. There is no reason to not go for my goal. If the day unfolds differently than I hope, then so be it. I will be patient, listen to my body and adjust only when it is ultimately needed. Hopefully that time never comes.

Regardless of how I run in Nashville (or Portland in October), I'm qualified to go Boston next year. The only things left to be determined are if I start in wave 2, wave 1, whether I'm not pregnant and run with a goal, whether I'm pregnant and run easy, whether I'm pregnant and don't run, or whatever situation unfolds. Those are things to look forward to deciding next year. No matter what it is a win-win-win for April 2010.

Plus, until 2010, I still hold the Jones family record time for Boston. 3:37:21 :) This is the only family marathon record I hold for marathons that Chad and I have both run.

9 days away...

and my damn hip has flared again. Lisa says it is inflammation and will go down with rest. I ran 3.5 miles today and have 0 miles planned for tomorrow. At this point, I'm ready to start focusing on the trip instead of worrying about running with pain. It is about a 5 out of 10, but I can feel it when I run, walk, and sit. One Advil knocks it out for a few hours, and it has been suggested that I do a little Advil treatment for a day or so to encourage the inflammation to go down.

After the marathon, I'm taking some time with absolutely no running and will build back up the strength in my legs to be more balanced. GRRRR!!!

Debbie Downer

I freaking cried at office hours. I had an emotional reaction to something that happened in my running past and could not control my tears. What I can say about it right now is that I'm incredibly sensitive to certain moments and events that have occurred in my life. One of them involves a former training partner of mine.

I was the very slowest in the group training for Boston 2006...always the caboose at every single workout. It is the group that taught me the most about mental toughness. My MGP was always 8:00 miles (3:30 marathon) and all of the other women in my group were running much faster than me. Despite posting slower marathon times than me, a few of them would consistently kick my ass on workout days. In Boston on Marathon day, we were sitting on the bus chatting about what corral we were going to be in and who was going for what time. There were gals who were planning to 'just run a 3:45 to requalify', even after training like animals all season to try to PR. I could not believe they were going to put in all of the hard work throughout the season (running sub 3:30 paces) and not go for their goal. I told them what I thought...that they were crazy to not go for at least a 3:30, because I sure was and had been chasing their fast butts all season. I told them how fast I thought they were and that if someone like me could go for 3:30, then there was no telling how well they would run. 3:45 hadn't even been a thought all season during those hard mile repeats.

During the race, one particular training partner of mine came flying past me (and Chad, who was running with me) at mile 22-23. We cheered for her, acknowledging her great race, and the look on her face was something I'll never forget. It was fantastic to see that she changed her mind and decided to go for her goal. Her final time was 3:31 something (a huge PR by 12-14 minutes I think).

A few weeks later the team had a get-together and she approached me. In the most genuinely thankful words I have ever heard, she wanted to tell me how much it meant to her that I had told her she was going to run fast that day. She thanked me for telling her to go for her goal. In no way would I ever take credit for what she did, but it meant so much to me that I had in some way had an effect on her great Boston experience. She did the work. She ran the race. She had an awesome day all on her own.

What hurts me to say, and what makes me emotional about these events is that this woman found out that she was sick with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and has been fighting since soon after that race. She is a fighter and will continue to try to beat the lymphoma, but her Boston experience and her conversation with me afterwards has completely altered my way of thinking when it comes to goal setting.

I will always go for it. I will not settle for just good enough. I will respect my own words of advice to my friend and go for my goals, even when it would be easier to be satisfied with less. The words of encouragement that we give each other, the words of gratitude that we share with each other go beyond the moment in which they are spoken.

Every time I hear someone underestimate their own potential or performance, I cringe. I have a gut reaction. I get defensive. I get upset to think about how my friend might not have gone for her goal and would not have experienced such a fantastic day. Anyhoo....today it made me cry. I sobbed the whole way home. I sobbed in the garage. I'm welling up right now thinking about that day.

Music Change - Boston Week

After the not so subtle suggestion to change the music on my blog from an unnamed reader, I've themed this week's music in honor of all of my teammates running the Boston Marathon this weekend. Hope you guys like it!

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline

Where's Waldo? Where's Sadie?

Our weekend at The Masters deserves a separate write up, but I wanted to share these screen shots with you. There are no cameras or cell phones allowed at Augusta National, so we weren't able to take pictures or do any kind of live blogging or updating during the day.

We recorded the weekend on our DVR, so at lunch I looked for us on the TV. Of course, I knew exactly where we were for which players during the day, so it's not like I had to hunt every single frame.

This should be a fun game...Here is a shot of the crowd watching the 7th green, 3rd tee, and 2nd green (off screen to the left). We were in this spot for a while on Saturday watching some of the fun pairings play through. This shot on CBS was a quick pan of the course while Mickelson was standing on the 3rd tee. (He's the player in the black pants.) Can you spot us? hehe...of course I can!



Here's a close up of the screen...Where's Sadie? Look back at my previous post of us driving to the to see what I'm wearing. I bought a souvenir hat to complete the ensemble.



Surely in this super close up you can spot me...



Give up? Center right white shirt, scarf, straw hat.

Here we are at the 16th. I know we're in this shot, but I can't pick us out. We are on the left of the water hazard, halfway up.

Here's another shot of the Perry/Campbell pairing at the 16th. We are to the left of the tree in this shot, just below the walking path.

Here's what I look like today.

Look for me on TV at the Masters!

Look for us on TV today

We're going to be at the Masters today. Chad is wearing a UT hat and
a navy wind shirt (under it is a white polo for when of warms up a
little. We're going to be all over the course.

Carolina veggie plate

French fries, cole slaw, and fried corn on the cob (I swear!). I
ordered banana pudding (fruit) to make sure it was a well-balanced meal.

Some of the other 'veggies' I could choose from were mac and cheese,
beans (cooked with ham bone), carolina hash (pork), and BBQ fried pork
skins. Love it!

Chad's First Carolina BBQ

Big Joe Basket

Weight - uncovered by the diary

I'm starting to accept that my weight gain really is caused by hormone fluctuations. I have tracked my weight and cycle day now for many many weeks, and it is starting to show a pattern, with a fluctuation of 6-8 pounds. Thank goodness that Nashville weekend coincides with some of my 'skinny' days in the cycle. Now, I just need to do my part in watching my nutrition while we taper.

Wheat update...I've been eating wheat-free for a couple of weeks, and I can tell there has been a significant improvement in my GI system. I'm eating oats, so it's technically not a totally celiac friendly gluten-free. Eating wheat-free is sometimes difficult, especially when you are a carb-craver who is used to her eating patterns. Think no traditional pasta, bread, cupcakes, most cereals. Poor Chad hasn't been able to go to Carrabba's in a while.

However, rice and corn are pretty easy to find with all of the tex-mex food in Austin. Also, good ol' potatoes have filled some of the void. Our breakfast-for-dinner pre-long run ritual is working well, and I can usually make a meal with eggs, breakfast potatoes, and fruit.

Test Drives 2,3,4,5

I'm feeling better about my hips. I can run again. I can run somewhat fast again. All of it with no pain.

Test Drive 2 - 6 miles Monday. Nice and easy. Felt pretty good.

Tuesday - I was supposed to run, but I didn't. Not because of my hip, but because I was completely unmotivated. I lost my mojo, baby.

Test Drive 3 - 3 miles Wednesday late morning. Felt really good.

Test Drive 4 - 5.5-6 miles Wednesday afternoon with Tara. Felt good, and knowing that I ran 9 miles for the day gave me great encouragement.

Test Drive 5 - 9 miles this morning - 1 mile easy, 7 miles 'steady state', 1 mile easy. My goal was to keep my mile times under 8:00 as long as it felt comfortable and strong. The first mile on the trail was rough. I had an optical migraine starting to flare up in my right eye, so I was having trouble seeing the trail the first few miles. All of my mile splits were under 8:00, with most of the time around 7:50. I'll take it, especially with the uneven surface and the humidity. No hip pain at all, though I felt a little 'wanky' the first couple of miles.

Music Change - Marty Stuart

When you go to Nashville, you've got to go to Opryland, right? Chad is a country music fan (I knew this going into our marriage), and he can sing the lyrics to more country songs than you would ever need to know. Anyhow, we're doing the whole tourist thing in Nashville after we run, so we're going to a show at the Grand Ole Opry. According to the website, the shows play Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. We won't be there on a Tuesday night, Friday night is the night before the marathon, so probably not the best night to be out and about late at a concert, so Saturday is the night we're going.

Yeah, there is the post-race concert that we can get in for free. We may never go back to Nashville again, so to miss out on the Opry would be like going to NYC and not seeing Times Square.

Marty Stuart is the only person listed on the schedule right now for the 25th. As it gets closer to the date, they will finalize the rest of the artists performing that night. Regardless of who plays, we'll have fun saying that we've been to the Grand Ole Opry.

Masters Week!

We're going to the Masters!

But you need some background info here...since we have known each other, Chad and I have not been in town on Easter weekend. It's not like we travel any more than the next family (though we do go lots of places). We will just happen to miss Easter for the fourth year in a row.

In 2006, we were in Boston at a Red Sox game on Easter Sunday before Marathon Monday. This is the game where I got hit by a foul ball in the hip.

In 2007, we were in NYC visiting Tara and Wade. Here we are in Harlem on Easter Sunday.

Last year we were on our honeymoon in Paris. We ate pastries at the plaza at the Louvre, took a boat tour on the Seine, found the statue of liberty, ate crepes, and took it easy.

Boston, New York, Paris, Augusta...Chad would argue that the cities are getting better each year. I'll take Paris every year, but I'm excited to go to The Masters, too. :).

Test Drive #1

The last time I ran before this morning was Wednesday, a short 3 miler with Tara where I knew something was officially wrong with my hip. I've done zero miles since then, gotten my massage, done my stretching and the pain had significantly decreased.

I ran 3 miles this morning super easy and so far everything feels okay. During the run there was no pain, but I could feel my hip ready to talk to me at any moment. There were a couple of times where other joints tried to start hurting, but I think that is just the three days of rest working themselves out.

So far so good. If there is no pain the rest of the day, I might shake it out another mile or so tonight to keep the muscles loosening up. I don't plan to push hard at all this week. I'll go to office hours to talk to coach, but other than that, I just hope to get back to 40-50 miles this week. It should be doable, even breaking the miles up into small chunks to get it done. All of it depending on no pain in the hip. I feel much better knowing that I ran 3 miles :).

Voskos Greek Yogurt

Yeah, I'll admit to being lax on veganism. It is something that I ideally strive for, but there are some things in life that I'm just going to choose to eat. I've had some suspected trouble with wheat these days, so my diet was soon to become way too restrictive and I've been loosening the reins to revert back to 'vegetarian'. (BTW, I'm going to be celebrating 10 years of vegetarianism at the end of May...woohoo!)

I've been eating selected dairy products that I deem 'worthy' of eating. If I see a product that offers a low calorie, high protein, low sugar snack, I'm interested in trying it. I'm a believer in no rBST/rBGH-free so you won't catch me buying just any dairy products.

Greek yogurt is one of the dairy products I have been choosing to eat. These days, there are many more offerings of greek yogurt in the grocery store, but the brand I tried today is far and away the best tasting greek yogurt that I've had. I didn't have to add any sweetener and the 'tanginess factor' is not too harsh.

Voskos Greek Yogurt - I tried the Fig flavor. YUM!!! Think sweet fig newton meets tangy cheesecake. It was 160 calories, 11 grams protein, no fat, and is completely fruit juice sweetened, so there is no added sugar. I bought it at Whole Foods on Lamar, but I can't remember how much I paid for it.

If you're used to Yoplait or Dannon (fake and nasty sweet), this yogurt may be a shock. You will have to adjust your tastes. The ingredients are pure and simple - Grade A Pasteurized Skim Milk, Fruit Juice Concentrate (Pineapple, Peach, Apple, Pear), Fig, Tapioca Starch, Citric Acid and Live and Active Cultures.

Pain in the ass

Pain in the ass, literally. When I went for my massage today, Lisa said that I might have blown out my glute muscles on my right side. Those may not have been her exact words, and no, those aren't technical terms, but basically we're talking about some possible strained glute muscles. If it is not that, then it is likely that my hip is a little out of place due to the inflammation and muscle tightness on my right side and it is probably compressing a nerve to cause the pain. Either way, I was a champ during the massage and took the pain like a pro.

The solution for now? No running at all for three days (suggested by Lisa and agreed on by me and then by coach). Fine by me :). I'm perfectly fine not waking up at 5:30am on Saturday morning to run 25 miles. Do I think I'm missing out on the most crucial workout of the season? Nah. I've already put a ton of work in so far this season. Three days of no running will help any potential muscle strain calm down, so that hopefully I'm running again next week.

I'm going to ice bath each day, followed by heat. I'm also going to do a few suggested stretches to help the area relax. Yeah...I get to sleep in on Saturday!!!

Scrrd

I'm scrrd. The newest ache and pain feels different. It came on suddenly Tuesday night (not during running). It's in my right hip (where I had SI issues in 2007). It doesn't feel like muscle pain and I can feel it when I run, walk, or even stand on one leg and bounce up and down without leaving the floor. Not good.

I hope rest and Lisa's massage techniques work, otherwise I'm going to need to borrow the magic band-aid.

:(

Bring on the vacations...

I love to travel. As much as I am a homebody here in Austin, I love a good trip. There's something about arranging the details and going somewhere else. Including this weekend, we're only in town three of the next seven weeks! That's my kind of schedule.

Here's what we have in store...

• This week - 2 1/2 more days of work, long run Sat, then begin to taper (peak phase!). My mantra? Make it to noon Saturday, make it to noon Saturday, make it to noon Saturday...
• April 6-12 - 4 day work week, fly on Friday to Augusta...we're going to the Masters on Saturday!!! Look for us on TV. If we wear a weird color shirt or an easily identifiable hat, we'll let you know, but there aren't any cameras or phones allowed on the course, so there won't be any live blogging.
• April 13-19 - 5 day work week, 10 mile run on Saturday, easy peasy. Enjoy weekend in Austin, hoping for beautiful weather.
• April 20-26 - 4 day work week - leave for Nashville Thursday afternoon, Marathon on Saturday, don't return until Monday night. Yay Nashville! We've got tickets to the late show at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night, a Nashville must. After the marathon Saturday morning, we've got the rest of Saturday, all day Sunday, and most of the day Monday to be tourists.
• April 27-May 3 - 4 day work week, sleep in every day! So freaking excited to sleep!!Weekend after marathon - enjoy weekend at home!
• May 4-10 - 5 day work week, sleep in every day! Leave for Maui on Saturday!
• May 11-17 - Maui vacation! Sleep, sun, books, walks on the beach! Yay, yay, yay!

We're very lucky to get to do all of this. Not bragging, just really excited that all of the vacations are so close together this beautiful time of year.